In my previous blog entry, I suggested the creation of a TV equivalent of Turner Classic Movies, but for TV -- a real one, not like what TV Land has morphed into -- and got lots and lots of fabulous responses, and suggestions for shows deserving of inclusion on such a network. You can read that post, and those comments, HERE. But you can also read a lot more on Twitter, where people have chimed in separately on
@TVWORTHWATCHING ...
I should say that our Twitter account @TVWORTHWATCHING, at this point, has 1147 followers. Most of that, though, I suspect, is due to the time I went to Paris recently and, in my absence, my cat tweeted her own recommendations for TV viewing. I can swear I didn't write them, at least -- and when the cat recommended The Deadliest Catch, something indeed smelled fishy...
Regardless, there was such a response to this particular post, with people offering their own tweets about favorite shows to see on such a network, that I thought I'd share them, and respond, here. Thanks, everyone...
@BobbyRiversTV -- from Bobby Rivers (a celebrity tweet!) -- nominates two excellent, early TV dramedies (well, they were called that then): Tony Randall's Love, Sidney and John Ritter's Hooperman. Good taste, Bobby!
@marshillian nominated Joss Whedon's Firefly series, which, even with its Serenity movie sequel, "didn't get to finish story." I agree. And, as you can see if you keep reading, we're not alone.
@Beakybasil wrote multiple tweets, showing taste in quality as well as quantity. Odyssey 5, Dark Sky, Rubicon, Rockford Files ("best PI"), Babylon 5 ("best sci-fi"), Shogun, Roots, Band of Brothers, Pillars of the Earth, Spartacus, I Claudius, Foyle's War, MI-5, Fawlty Towers, Life on Mars ("from UK"), Upstairs Downstairs, Sopranos, Dexter, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under. He also voted to continue Rubicon and Luther.
@Scarlett_Sox nominated The West Wing, "but just the 1st 4 seasons." Funny -- when my son, Mark, introduced himself to Aaron Sorkin, he did so by telling him that the first two seasons of The West Wing were the best TV he'd ever seen. That fervent but partial compliment got a wry smile from Sorkin -- and, eventually, an internship on Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
@singlepayer votes for Boston Legal, which I just saw this morning on cable... still great, and for The West Wing and The Wire.
@readinggirl1984 is a quality viewinggirl as well: Her choices include Arrested Development, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
@annemarie88keys -- I'm guessing she's either a pianist or a night watchman -- writes, "for years I've been joking that there should be an Aaron Spelling channel," and cites Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, 90201, etc. The etc. could include 7th Heaven and Family, arguably, but we can't forget the "quality" part of this equation, right?
@AuroraBugallo has a boatload of great nominations: I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Columbo, Mad Men, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Star Trek and The Twilight Zone.
@GoColts59 votes for Rome from HBO.
@TinoBeano suggests not only Men of a Certain Age, the cancellation of which prompted my column in the first place, but NYPD Blue, EZ Streets, Wiseguy and Gilmore Girls. Ahhh, EZ Streets, a brilliant choice, sir!
@jcind votes for Life on Mars (I'm not sure which version is being nominated, though) and Arrested Development.
@fergaldavey has one vote, for Freaks and Geeks, but follows it with three exclamation marks!!!
And, finally, @joelrchapman types, with a sigh you can almost hear, "I'm not sure what would be on, but somehow Firefly would get cancelled again."
Your thoughts, if not yet voiced? Comment either here or @TVWORTHWATCHING on Twitter. We'll find them...