Who can forget Gilligan or Eddie Haskell or Opie Taylor? We grew up with these characters and remember them well. Indeed TV shows defined the decades we grew up in and watching them was a wonderful way to pass the time in a world free of computers, smartphones and Xboxes. We asked our Facebook fans about their favorite — and least favorite — old TV shows. Clearly there are many contenders: “Petticoat Junction,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Green Acres,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Mickey Mouse Club,” “That Girl,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Waltons,” “I Dream Of Jeannie” — and the list goes on and on and on. We loved them all, mostly because of the hilarious characters they featured and their penchant for getting into jams.
But there were a few shows that garnered more responses than others. And so, below, are 11 TV shows ranked from worst to best. Which was YOUR favorite?
11. “Hee Haw”: THE WORST.
This variety show featured country music and slapstick humor by characters living in the fictitious Kornfield Kounty. The show aired on CBS from 1969 to 1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. Although loads of well-established country music stars performed on the show over the years, many say the jokes were just too corny.
10. “Hazel”
Starring Shirley Booth as Hazel Burke, this show was about a housekeeper — Hazel — who kept everyone in the Baxter household in line. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from 1961 to 1966. Although Booth won two Emmys for her performance, many say they didn’t really care for the busybody maid.
9. “Hogan’s Heroes”
For six years, the prisoners of
Hogan’s Heroes’ Luftwaffe Stalag 13 did their best to sabotage the Nazis’ efforts, all while deep inside enemy territory. The series — which ran from 1965 to 1971 — focused mostly on five main prisoners including Col. Robert E. Hogan played by Bob Crane. Although some have fond memories of watching this show with their fathers, it definitely wasn’t on most people’s shortlist of favorite old programs.
8. “Gunsmoke”
This Western drama series took place in and around the rough-and-tumble Dodge City, Kansas. Each week, Marshal Matt Dillon, played by James Arness, tackled a brawl, firefight or other problem linked to the challenges of frontier life. Although the show ran for 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, many say they were never really fond of westerns.
7. “The Andy Griffith Show”
“The Andy Griffith Show,” which introduced the world to a very young Ron Howard as Opie, featured the trials and tribulations of widower Sheriff Andy Taylor, who lived with his Aunt Bee, in virtually crime-free Mayberry, North Carolina. Although most people loved this show, some say they were less enamored with Don Knotts, who played the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife.
6. “Bewitched”
This comedy fantasy, which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1972, featured Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch married to an ordinary man, Darrin Stephens, who was never able to resist her magic charms. Apparently, most of you couldn’t resist them either.
5. “Little House on the Prairie”
This show, based on a children’s book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, ran from 1974 to 1983. A huge fan favorite starring Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon, the program centered around the life and times of the Ingalls family in the 19th century American West.
4. “Leave It to Beaver”
This comedy, which aired from 1957 to 1963, featured a cute little boy named Beaver Cleaver — or The Beaver — and his picture-perfect family. No doubt this feel-good show about suburban life reminds folks of simpler times.
3. “Gilligan’s Island”
Although this show aired only three years, from 1964 to 1967, few programs are remembered as fondly as this one. The series featured seven castaways — Gilligan, the Skipper too, a millionaire and his wife, a movie-star, the Professor and Mary Ann — stranded on a desert island.
2. “The Carol Burnett Show”
This variety sketch comedy series, featuring the incomparable Carol Burnett as well as Harvey Korman, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence, ran from 1967 to 1978. The show was wildly popular then — picking up 25 Emmy Awards — and even now.
1. “I Love Lucy”: THE BEST.
This landmark sitcom starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz is on almost everyone’s all-time top 10 list. Airing from 1951 to 1957, the program was the most-watched show in America in four of its six seasons. From the responses we received, it seems that everyone loves Lucy — and always will.