Revisiting old TV shows

It's deja vu all over again.

One of the ironies of moving into the future is that we have more opportunities to examine the past.  Once upon a time, when a TV show was cancelled it disappeared from the airwaves never to be seen again, unless it accumulated enough episodes to enter into the TV heaven known as syndication.  Now, thanks to expanding numbers of cable channels, DVDs and streaming, it is possible to go back and revisit shows from long past. The problem is you might not like what you find.

I was pleasantly surprised when I took a peek at the DVDs for season one of the old FOX series Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and found it had not lost its edge.  It was the sort of show, considered innovative at the time, which might now be viewed as hackneyed or superficial (in a thumbnail, it was basically Hogan’s Heroes set in a So-Cal high school).  But I found the absurdist humor still held up, the young cast had a fine camaraderie (OK, Corin Nemec’s subsequent acting career didn't turn out as rosy as forecast, but Hollywood’s a tough place) and the visual panache still had energy. I seem to recall the show dipped in quality, so i won't revisit season two.

But for every pleasant surprise, I seem to find more disappointment.  When The Paper Chase, a CBS series set in law school based on the movie starring John Houseman, was on it was my favorite show.  It was also a favorite of critics, getting a Best Drama Emmy nomination in its first season (it then moved to cable, at a time when cable still had Cable ACE awards and nobody watched).  But when I checked out the DVDs, I was astonished to find my view of the show had been through rose-colored glasses.  The plots were absurd, the acting (other than Houseman) amateurish, and the dialogue was composed by people who have never heard humans conversing. To give an example of an idiot plot, in one episode the main character Hart gets locked in the closet of Houseman’s office with another student at 5 PM Friday.  The two students are stuck there until Monday morning, when they both managed to sneak out unobserved.  How two people could spend 60 hours in a closet with no comment about how they avoided having to go to the bathroom is a mystery that will blessedly never be answered.

I adored the TV series Chuck when it was on, and even bought the first two seasons on DVD.  I thought there was a drop in quality season three so I didn't buy it, but out of curiosity I did stream it on Netflix.  After three episodes I found it unwatchable.  Chuck repeats over and over that he “wants to be a real spy” now that the Intersect has bestowed him with physical as well as mental spy skills.  His handler Sarah keeps explaining to him that being a real spy means being ruthless, not caring about other people, and occasionally killing people; Chuck agrees, but then he not only refuses to kill people, but he also refuses to injure them, lie to them, or apparently hurt their feelings.  I loved the show when I was watching it, but in retrospect I think I’ll stick with seasons 1 and 2.

Sometime when a show is on you put up with what you know is inferior work if you are invested in the show.  I knew the 6^th and 7^th seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were nowhere near as good as the first five seasons when they were on, but I kept watching hoping it would get better. But at the time I knew it was really bad (but then bad Buffy was still better than 90% of the other drek).  I have occasionally watched episodes from those final two seasons and they are even worse than I remember.

I am currently sporadically re-watching Gilmore Girls in reruns on ABC Family, and I had forgotten how far off the rails the show went in season six (I believe Amy Sherman Palladino had been forced out as show runner that season).  For a show based on the relationship between mother Lorelei and daughter Rory, it was a disaster to have the two of them have a falling out and not speak to each other for half the season.  Then there was the disastrous Luke/Lorelei engagement; I know this development thrilled shippers, but it was a pairing that could only end in a murder/suicide (she’s a fun-loving free spirit, he’s an anal-retentive dark cloud; I know opposites attract, but when matter and anti-matter meet it results in a loud boom).  This was followed by the disastrous creation of Luke’s previously unknown daughter April, which led to the disastrous irreconcilable break-up of Luke and Lorelei, which led to the disastrous re-coupling of Lorelei and Rory’s father Christopher, which led to more complications in season seven.  When I was watching at the time I felt a speed bump, but upon later review it was a twenty car pile-up.

As I said, I have been pleasantly surprised when I have found a beloved old TV series available for re-viewing.  Hill Street Blues is still the best show of all-time even after thirty years.  Kung Fu, being set in the old west, can never get old.  But be careful when looking into a rear-view mirror; sometimes your palette might have altered, and what you once feasted on may now have a slightly bitter taste.