The Andy Griffith Show is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
The series originated partly from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. The show stars Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, the widowed sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina, a fictional community of roughly 2,000–5,000 people.[1][2] Other major characters include Andy's cousin, the well-meaning and enthusiastic deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts); Andy's aunt and housekeeper, Bee Taylor (Frances Bavier); and Andy's young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Eccentric townspeople and, periodically, Andy's girlfriends complete the cast. Regarding the tone of the show, Griffith said that despite a contemporary setting, the show evoked nostalgia, saying in a Today Show interview, "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was, when we were doing it, of a time gone by."[3]
The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings, ending its final season at number one. The only other shows to end their runs at the top of the ratings are I Love Lucy (1957) and Seinfeld (1998).[4] On separate occasions, it has been ranked by TV Guide as the ninth- and thirteenth-best series in American television history.[5][6] Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The series spawned its own spin-off—Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964–1969) and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986).
After the eighth season, when Griffith left the series, it was retitled Mayberry, R.F.D., with Ken Berry and Buddy Foster replacing Griffith and Howard in new roles. In the new format, it ran for 78 episodes, ending in 1971 after three seasons. Reruns of The Andy Griffith Show are often shown on TV Land, MeTV, The CW, Pluto TV, and SundanceTV. On those channels, the episodes are edited to make room for commercials, but some airings on SundanceTV air the full uncut versions. The complete series is available on DVD and Blu-ray and is intermittently available on such streaming video services as Amazon Prime. Mayberry Days, an annual festival celebrating the sitcom, is held each year in Griffith's hometown, Mount Airy, North Carolina.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Griffith_Show; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvSXdO7SDCE; accessed October 19, 2022.
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan.[1] It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie.[2]
In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked No. 15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[3] In 2013, the series finished No. 31 in TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time.[4]
The Ed Sullivan Show is especially known to the World War II and baby boomer generations for introducing acts and airing breakthrough performances by popular 1950s and 1960s musicians such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Supremes, The Dave Clark Five, The Animals, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dusty Springfield, The Beach Boys, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, The Mamas and the Papas, The Lovin' Spoonful, Herman's Hermits, The Doors, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, and The Band.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ed_Sullivan_Show; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA23FYBxl2Q; accessed October 19, 2022.
Batman is an American live action television series, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin – two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains.[1][2] It is known for its camp style, upbeat theme music, and its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality (aimed at its largely teenage audience). This included championing the importance of using seat belts, doing homework, eating vegetables, and drinking milk.[3] It was described by executive producer William Dozier as the only situation comedy on the air without a laugh track. The 120 episodes aired on the ABC network for three seasons from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked Batman as the 82nd greatest American television show of all time. A companion feature film was released in 1966 between the first and second seasons of the TV show.
Batman held the record for the longest running live action superhero series in terms of episodes until Smallville in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(TV_series); accessed October 24, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ9ymE2Rcxo; accessed October 24, 2022.
Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, where a number of supernatural occurrences take place.
This series became popular when vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) appeared ten months into its run. It would also feature ghosts, werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor.
This soap opera was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, numerous dramatic plot twists, adventurous music score, broad cosmos of characters, and heroic adventures. The original network run of the show lasted for nearly five years to amass 1,225 episodes. The success of the series spawned a media franchise that has included two feature films (House of Dark Shadows in 1970 and Night of Dark Shadows in 1971), a 1991 TV remake, a failed 2004 remake pilot, a 2012 film reboot directed by Tim Burton, and numerous spin-off novels.
TV Guide's list of all-time Top Cult Shows ranked the series #19 in 2004,[1] and #23 in 2007.[2]
Since 2006, the series has continued as a range of audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring members of the original cast including David Selby, Lara Parker, and Kathryn Leigh Scott.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Shadows; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgBMZOHZVLo; accessed October 19, 2022.
Mission: Impossible is an American espionage television series that aired on CBS from September 1966 to March 1973. It was revived in 1988 for two seasons on ABC. It also inspired the series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise beginning in 1996.
Created and initially produced by Bruce Geller, the show chronicled the exploits of a small covert team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force, and their sophisticated and subtle methods of deceiving, manipulating and thwarting hostile Iron Curtain governments, third world dictators, corrupt industrialists, and crime lords, among others. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs (played by Steven Hill); Jim Phelps (played by Peter Graves) takes charge for the remaining seasons. Briggs and Phelps usually assemble the same core team of agents, all of whom have careers and some degree of celebrity outside of espionage. The team is occasionally supplemented by other specialists.
The series was financed and filmed by Desilu Productions.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_(1966_TV_series); accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwpXUn2dF5c; accessed October 19, 2022.
The Prisoner is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job.[2] Patrick McGoohan played the lead role as Number Six. The series was created by McGoohan with possible contributions from George Markstein.[3] Episode plots have elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama, as well as spy fiction.[4] It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.[4]
A single series of 17 episodes was filmed between September 1966 and January 1968, with exterior location filming in Portmeirion, Wales. Interior scenes were filmed at MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, north of London. The series was first broadcast in Canada beginning on 5 September 1967, in the UK on 29 September 1967, and in the US on 1 June 1968.[5] Although the show was sold as a thriller in the mould of the previous series starring McGoohan, Danger Man, its combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surrealistic setting had a far-reaching influence on science fiction and fantasy TV programming, and on narrative popular culture in general.[6] Since its initial screening, the series has developed a cult following.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCyB_A7oc58; accessed October 19, 2022.
Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and within the top 10 longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set in the 1860s and centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured (at various times) Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas.[2]
The title "Bonanza" is a term used by miners in regard to a large vein or deposit of silver ore,[3] from Spanish bonanza (prosperity) and commonly refers to the 1859 revelation of the Comstock Lode of rich silver ore mines under the town of Virginia City, not far from the fictional Ponderosa Ranch that the Cartwright family operated. The show's theme song, also titled "Bonanza", became a hit song. Only instrumental renditions, absent Ray Evans' lyrics, were used during the series's long run.[4]
In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[5] and in 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.[6] The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) and 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War, coinciding with the period Nevada Territory became a U.S. state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonanza; accessed October 19, 2022.
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Productions[notes 1] in association with the CBS Television Network, and was shot at Desilu Studios. Other producers included Bill Persky and Sam Denoff. The music for the show's theme song was written by Earle Hagen.[1]
The show starred Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, and Larry Mathews. The Dick Van Dyke Show centered on the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), the head writer for the fictional Alan Brady Show, who lived in New Rochelle, New York with his stylish wife Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) and young son Ritchie (Larry Mathews). The series portrayed daily life, comic scenarios that charming, goofy Rob Petrie found himself in the middle of with work colleagues--Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon)--or family, various friends, and neighbors Millie (Ann Morgan Guilbert) and Jerry Helper (Jerry Paris).
The series won 15 Emmy Awards. In 1997, the episodes "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" and "It May Look Like a Walnut" were ranked at 8 and 15 respectively on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[2] In 2002, the series was ranked at 13 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time[3] and in 2013 it was ranked at 20 on their list of the 60 Best Series.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dick_Van_Dyke_Show; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK_8QW8LO-c; accessed October 19, 2022.
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began.[2]
The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, circa 2266–2269. The ship and crew are led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer and Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Chief Medical Officer Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Norway Productions and Desilu Productions produced the series from September 1966 to December 1967. Paramount Television produced the show from January 1968 to June 1969. Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8, 1966, to June 3, 1969.[3] It was first broadcast on September 6, 1966, on Canada's CTV network.[4] Star Trek's Nielsen ratings while on NBC were low, and the network cancelled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. Several years later, the series became a hit in broadcast syndication, remaining so throughout the 1970s, achieving cult classic status and a developing influence on popular culture. Star Trek eventually spawned a media franchise consisting of 11 television series, 13 feature films, and numerous books, games, and toys, and is now widely considered one of the most popular and influential television series of all time.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmn4FXXnIc4; accessed October 19, 2022.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour[1] was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.
The series was a major success, especially considering it was scheduled against the major NBC television series Bonanza, with content that appealed to contemporary youth viewership with daring political satire humor and major music acts such as Buffalo Springfield, Pete Seeger, Cream, and The Who. Despite this success, continual conflicts with network executives over content led to the show being abruptly pulled from the schedule in violation of the Smothers' contract in 1969.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smothers_Brothers_Comedy_Hour; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHJygvJrBdg; accessed October 19, 2022.
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (often simply referred to as Laugh-In) is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967, and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8 pm (ET). It quickly became the most popular television show in the United States.
The title of the show was a play on the 1960s hippie culture "love-ins" or the counterculture "be-ins", terms that were derived from "sit-ins" that were common in protests associated with civil rights and antiwar demonstrations of the time. In 2002, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was ranked number 42 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[1]
Laugh-In had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were Olsen and Johnson's comedies (such as the free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of That Was The Week That Was. The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which were politically charged or contained sexual innuendo. The co-hosts continued the exasperated straight man (Rowan) and "dumb guy" (Martin) act which they had established as nightclub comics.[2][page needed] The show featured Gary Owens as the on-screen announcer and permanent castmember Ruth Buzzi; longer-tenured cast members included Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Johnny Brown, Dennis Allen and Richard Dawson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_%26_Martin%27s_Laugh-In; accessed October 19, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlsQFUtMDvI; accessed October 19, 2022.