Posted on 08/04/2025 5:39:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The sixties was one of the more creative decades in modern history: The music, the clothes, the movies, the pop culture. But maybe most creative were the goofy TV comedy series.
The sixties were one of the most creative periods for art in modern American history. Mostly known for innovative music, now called "classic rock," the decade also broke meaningful ground in the areas of dress, pop culture, literature, movies and more. The sixties reminds this journalist of the fertile twenties in American literature with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and the like.
What isn't acknowledged much is the outrageous creativity of sixties television comedy series. Think about the goofiness of "Green Acres" (sophisticated New Yorkers moving to a rural farm), "I Dream Of Jeannie" (an astronaut and a genie) and "Mr. Ed" (a man with a talking horse). What minds came up with that stuff, I can't imagine, but there was a refreshing innocence about the shows, and, to this day, many are still in syndication.
I picked out five of the more memorable to look at, listed below in random order.
(1) "I Dream Of Jeannie": With the Cold War space race between the U.S. and former Soviet Union in full swing, this series had some relativity to the time period. It ran for five seasons on NBC, starting in 1965.
Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut played by Larry Hagman, later to star in “Dallas,” becomes stranded on a remote island when his reentry capsule meanders off-course. While on the island, he finds a bottle that's washed up on shore. When he uncorks it, out pops actress Barbara Eden, a beautiful genie dressed in Persian garb who helps rescue him and is his willing "slave" going forward.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
According to the show, the Clampetts were from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri.
According to the show, the Clampetts were from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri.
According to the show, the Clampetts were from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri.
Rifleman
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
High Chapparal
Wild, Wild, West
Rawhide
Maverick
Wagon Train
The Rebel
Branded
Cheyenne
Laredo
The Loner
The Texan
The Big Valley
It’s on my list. Great show.
That's Bullwinkle J. Moose, FRiend!
Is this why we have AI? AI tells me the Clampetts were from Missouri, but I remember Bug Tussle, Arkansas. Granny was originally from Tennessee.
The internet informs me; “It turns out that Bugtussle (or a variation thereof) is the name of at least three real towns: Bugtussle, Oklahoma, Bugtussle Kentucky, Bug Tussle, Alabama.”
I guess the Clampetts came from the Missouri-Arkansas border country. The weird thing is that Bug Tussle was supposed to be near Hooterville from Green Acres, but I didn’t get the feeling that the latter show was set in the South.
In our house, my Dad ruled what we got to watch on TV. (1960’s/’70’s)
The Twilight Zone
Star Trek (Thank You, Dad for a lifelong obsession!)
Get Smart
The Carol Burnett Show
Mission: Impossible
Dragnet
Green Acres
Columbo
Barney Miller
Hawaii Five-O
Kojak
Laugh-In
Your dad didn’t like Perry Mason?
Well, they were pioneers. Now everything has been done. They had a captive audience that would put up some really stupid ideas and dumb gags — “My Mother the Car,” for example. It’s also hard to do anything convincing now without spending a lot more money than TV shows cost in the Sixties.
Sherwood Schwartz
Great list there. You missed my favorite, Have Gun Will Travel.
I was going to ask why there aren’t any westerns on regular broadcast TV today. But guns are now a no-no. And you’ve got to be ultra-careful not to offend any minority group.
So I suppose it’s not worth the effort.
Fun article, but AI B.S. opinions
These shows were all a lot of fun! Bewitched, to me is great because of the chemistry between Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead as her mom.
Loved Hogan’s Heroes too, a show filled with cute guys! But, must point out they were in a POW camp, not a concentration camp.
I haven't got to that one yet, but I hear it was a good one.
I was going to ask why there aren’t any westerns on regular broadcast TV today. But guns are now a no-no. And you’ve got to be ultra-careful not to offend any minority group. So I suppose it’s not worth the effort.
They could do it if they wanted to. When a good Western like "Tombstone" comes out it is extremely popular. And even war movies like "Saving Private Ryan." But since mostly women and pajama boys watch TV these days, it would project an image of manhood and good values that are completely out of sync with most of today's TV viewers. For now, I guess, we'll have to live on re-runs. It's OK; there's a lot of them out there.
“Get smart” and my favorite “F Troop”.
Oh my goodness, look how many great shows! Addams Family, we love! The Munsters could have been just a rip-off, but they had Fred Gwynne, a great actor, also in Car 54! And Perry Mason and the Twilight Zone still hold up!
And David McCallum in Man From UNCLE - heartthrob!
Network TV shows nowadays suck balls.
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