The Five: Shows That Mean The Most To Me

By Rob Price

 on September 26, 2020

I recently read a social media post asking “If you met someone who had never watched TV before, what 5 shows would you tell them to watch”.  This got me thinking, there are so many shows I love, both currently and in the past, from Arrow to Xena (I couldn’t think of a show that started with a Z).  But what shows would I tell someone to watch?  Shows are very personal and subjective, what I might love, someone else might despise.  I begin thinking back to my childhood and I realized, there were shows I watched growing up that actually had an influence on who I would become or at least gave me an escape from the real world when I most needed it.  Some of the fictional characters became sort of like friends.  I believe that a show, and the characters in the show influence who we are and what we stand for.

So, I am revising the question to be: Name the 5 shows that meant the most to you.  These could be current shows or past shows.  Mine are all shows from the past that for some reason made the greatest impact on my life.  I am putting them in order of when I first discovered them.  I am including a synopsis of the show and a small personal comment.   These are not my favorite TV shows (many of them are) but shows that influenced me in some way.

1. Scooby Doo, Where are you? (Original Air Dates 1969-1970)– A group of teenagers and their Great Dane travel around in a psychedelic van solving mysteries wherever they go.I first started watching this when I was about 5.  It is probably the single show that helped form my love of mysteries.  The idea of crimes being committed and a group of exceptional young people collecting clues and figuring out who “dunnit” is a theme I love to this day.  I love trying to unlock clues and figure out things!
2. Get Smart: (Original Air Dates 1965 – 1970) Maxwell Smart, (Agent 86) is a bumbling spy working for the CONTROL agency who battle against the nefarious plans of their rival spy agency,  KAOS with the help of his love interest and more competent partner Agent 99.I started watching this when I was about 8.  It was on in re-runs at 4am in the morning and I would get up and tune in before having to get ready for school.  This show helped form my off-beat sense of humor.  I mixture of rye wit and slapstick humor in the vein of Airplane! The stories were fun, funny and smart (pun intended).  And I still get up at 4am every morning.
3. Doctor Who (Original Series air dates 1963 – 1989) A renegade Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey travels through time and space in his ship called the Tardis, saving earth, other worlds and the universe on a weekly basis.
   No other show affected me as much as this one did.  It came at a time in my life I really needed to know that there were good people out there and the Doctor is just what I needed.  It was a show that proved that intelligence mixed with humor could be more powerful than might and brawn.
4. Robin of Sherwood (1984 – 1986) Robin of Loxley (Michael Praed) finds out that he is the chosen son of Herne the Hunter, a pagan god of the hunt in 12^th and early 13^th century England. He, Maid Marian, and his band of merry men, fight any evil that threatens Sherwood Forest.
   I find this the best rendition of Robin Hood I have ever seen as it mixes magic and fantasy with historical events.  The writing is smart and the action adventurous.  I fell in love with the characters and was brought to tears on several occasions.  Like Dr., Who, this show came at a point in my life when I needed heroes.  Robin Hood wasn’t perfect, but he fought for what was right and good.
5. Beauty and the Beast (Original Air Dates 1987 – 1990) A beautifully disfigured man saves a young district attorney as they fall in love with each other. He is from a secret society that lives deep below New York City, she is from a privileged world.  Their differences keep them apart, but their love brings them together.This show was beautifully written which interwove poetry and beauty with adventure and drama.  No show has ever touched my heart as deeply.   I related so heavily with Vincent (the beast) as someone who felt unlovable, and yet so deeply loved.  It taught me to always have hope!

Honorable Mentions:

Battle of the Planets

Murder, She Wrote

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

Monk

Midsomer Murders

Super Friends

Arrow (and all the Arrowverse shows)

Star Trek (All the series)

Captain Cosmo (local San Francisco Bay Area Show)

Creature Features

Comic-Watch would love to hear how you would answer the question “What 5 TV Shows Meant The Most To You?”. Just use the comment box and list yours shows, with or without comment. We’ll print all the shows in a future edition of our All-New “The Five”.