Continuing my experiment to determine the best week of TV imaginable, today I’m tackling Saturday nights. If you’ve been playing along at home, you were just as surprised as I was to discover that the weekend wasn’t once a television wasteland, as would have been reasonable to expect.
For your reference, see how I arrived at my choices — and pick your own — by taking a look at my CBS, NBC, and ABC Saturday night lineups. Then buckle in for the ride below.
8:00-9:00 As I told you the last time, whenever I have an hour show and a half-hour show to choose between, I’m going to have to evaluate the full hour, so sometimes I’ll have to make my decision two against one. This time, it’s Early Edition against The Golden Girls at 8:00, and The Torkelsons or Growing Pains at 8:30.
The Torkelsons was a fun, quirky sitcom that never failed to make me laugh. But I don’t know that there was anything enduring about it. It’s like so many other shows — good for what they are, maybe even memorable, but they don’t necessarily have anything tangible that you can sink your teeth into 20 years down the road. And that’s really what this list is about, when I can make it about that.
Which turns this into a game of Early Edition versus The Golden Girls and Growing Pains. If I was looking only at The Golden Girls, I think I’d pass. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the girls. I loved stories of St. Olaf, Blanche’s (Rue McClanahan) crazy sex life, “Picture it, Sicily, 1922,” and Dorothy’s (Bea Arthur) … um … she was very tall for a woman. But it was really for an entirely different generation of viewers. I was four when this show about retiree-aged women premiered, and I watched the show in reruns with my father, who’s a huge fan of Carol Burnett-era comedians. But this Will Ferrell-posse enthusiast? You say tomato, I tell a joke that’s inappropriate in mixed company.
But the girls are only half of the equation. And as much as I was a fan of the fantastic concept behind Early Edition, Growing Pains was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. Sure, I wished Ben (Jeremy Miller) ill as soon as his role expanded, but there was something about the Seaver family that I still hold dear today. Remember that completely inexplicable trip to Europe? Or Mike’s (Kirk Cameron) waterbed popping? Just two of a million. It’s The Golden Girls and Growing Pains in a landslide.
9:00-10:00 No contest here, because there is, in fact, no contest. I would have lost this bet, but Empty Nest made it through to the other side at 9:00, and I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, but The Powers That Be snuck in at 9:30. Obviously none of these shows are “Damn, this one?!?” choices, because I put them here in the first place. But there are sentimental winners, and then there are shows with real staying power. Empty Nest is the former, while The Powers That Be is one that I still talk about with my wife and sisters today, even after all these years and only one season. That was first class all the way.
10:00-11:00 What I would give for all my choices to be as easy as the one above. Here we go with our first three-way contest: Hunter, The Practice, and Walker, Texas Ranger. I can tell you right now that Walker can go without any real deliberation. It just can’t compete with the others. So that leaves the law firm of Donnell, et al against Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) and Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer).
I’m definitely enjoying The Practice, and while I’ve been struggling a lot with the characters, the show’s law always keeps me hooked. On the other hand, it’s been a long time since I’ve taken a look at Hunter … would I feel as good about it today with all the modern cop shows that I so enjoy?
The truth is this was a done deal from the beginning, but I still wanted to give credit to a good competition. Hunter and McCall have always been my “real life” incarnations of novel cops like Faye Kellerman’s Peter Decker and Marge Dunn, Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, and Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Kiz Rider. And I love reading, so that gives Hunter an edge in any head-to-head against modern shows with fancy doodads. Plus Fred Dryer was great to watch in action.
And that’s all there is to it. If it were up to me, I’d be watching the following (almost 100% NBC) lineup in perpetuity on Saturday nights: The Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Empty Nest, The Powers That Be, and Hunter.
How about you? What does your dream Saturday night lineup look like?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 07, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I think I wouldn’t be turning on the TV until 10:00! ;-)
Hey, I’m good with all those choices, although I’ve never heard of The Powers That Be. Googling it revealed an exceptionally strong cast, but I probably wouldn’t have tuned in if I had known about it. I haven’t liked a politically-themed show since Benson.