Underrated TV

[Old Thunder]

Two more shows for you:

Empty Nest - The Golden Girls spawned quite a few spin-offs, and the most popular was Empty Nest. Running for seven seasons, it featured Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston, a pediatrician whose daughters have come back to live with him after some personal troubles. The show is very different from The Golden Girls - the only thing that connects the two is the fact that the characters occasionally appeared on each others shows, and in fact Sophia became a regular on Empty Nest during the last two seasons after The Golden Girls ended and The Golden Palace flopped. While throughout its first three seasons it was a big hit, it never lived up to the fame of The Golden Girls and is now a rather forgotten show, which in my opinion is a shame because its best moments are right up there with The Golden Girls. It's definitely a series you should check out. (Interestingly enough, it spawned it's own spin-off, Nurses, which lasted for three seasons. I haven't gotten around to watching it yet though.)

The Golden Palace - Yup, another Golden Girls spin-off. Maybe it's because I love the original show so much (by far the greatest sitcom, only rivaled by Friends) that I find this show great as well. Most people disagree - while when it first premiered, it received a great amount of viewers, as the series progressed that soon dropped. Ultimately, the series was cancelled after its first season, and is now considered to be one of the worst spin-offs in television history. I disagree honestly - despite having only watched a handful of episodes I find it to be a great show. Lots of people disliked it because Dorothy left, but really, without her there it doesn't make a difference. In my mind at least. Most hate it, I love the show.

 

[JJandJanice]

I have a few more I'd like to discuss:


Digimon - Everyone and their grandmother knows what Pokémon is, but how many people remember Digimon? Digimon was cooler than Pokémon because the creatures looked a lot cooler, had cooler fighting movies, and they talked. No Pokémon except for Meowth had the ability to talk and would only say their name over and over again which got a bit annoying and limits the show's plot opportunities. I rarely watched Pokemon (I preferred the cards and games over the anime) but I do remember an episode where some Pokémon fell in love with Emolga the flying squirrel Pokémon and wanted to go on date with her. Ummm, he can't talk because he's a Pokémon so how is asking her out even possible? I find it kind of boring how the titular Pokémon can't even have a conversation with each other because they all say their name over and over again.

AAAHH! Real Monsters - I know that this show was already mentioned on this thread by another member but I absolutely had to mention it again. It is a show for kids who like scary things but aren't allowed to watch actual horror movies. The show is just scary enough to give younger viewers who like scary stuff goosebumps. I have a horror loving 10-year-old second cousin who watches The Walking Dead and I'd rather let her watch this any day. How cool of an idea is that?

I'm a big Pokémon fan, so although I can understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea, I do want to defend a few things here. First of all, even though yes, Meowth is the only Pokémon that can speak on the anime. There have been other Pokémon (mostly in the movies, I suppose) whom had the ability to speak telepathy, such as Mewtwo, Lugia, and others. Second, the whole them saying only their name thing is really something for the anime, other versions, including other animes, they make actual animal type noises (personally, I'd rather they say their name over and over, as it has less of that cruel "making animals fight" feel to it that way. Maybe that's just me.) But even with them just saying their name over and over, they're able to understand each other somehow in a form of communication. But regardless, Pokémon just connected with people more than Digimon, could be because it came first, could because people just fell in love with Pikachu or whatever.

Also I was the one who originally pointed out Ahhh! Real Monsters

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I have a few more current shows that don't seem to be getttting enough attention:
Danger and Eggs - A kid, an egg, a park, they do stuff! But, th-there's more to it though... it's kind of hard to explain.

Milo Murphy's Law - From the creators of Phineas and Ferb. It stars Weird Al. What more could you ask for? There's also going to be a crossover with P&F next year.

Welcome to The Wayne - Now, I don't necessarily love this show, but I still like it for some of it's humor, it's heart, it's fun and interesting characters, and the fact that it's one of the most creative animated shows currently on the air.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Dunno if any of y'all who were born in the late 80's/early 90's are familiar with this show, but um...

This was made by the co-creator of Shining Time Station, which brought Thomas the tank Engine to America. This show brought the Adventures of Noddy to America.

I loved this American spin-off series when I was young, and it's a shame not many episodes are on YouTube. Granted, I wasn't a big fan of the American dubs for the Noddy stories, but still.

 

[fuzzygobo]

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.
Anyone who has never seen this, get on YouTube and be amazed.
This Canadian production from 1971 (syndicated here in 1975, severely edited and laugh track added) was unbelievably hip. Hosted by Vincent Price who talked only in rhyme, and Billy Van, who played every other character except Igor.
Unbelievable makeup jobs on Billy. Some highlights:
The Wolfman- a spoof on DJ Wolfman Jack, the Wolfman played late 60's oldies (records by real groups. Most scenes were cut from DVD release over copyright hassles). Trippy psychedelic effects.

Grizelda the Ghastly Gourmet: Julia Child cooking show spoof.

Dracula and Gronk: Drac tried teaching facts to his comic sidekick (a purple sea monster puppet named Gronk). Gronk's hysterically funny replies led to many facepalms.

Dr. Pet Vet: the show's marginal attempt at being educational. The good doctor would bring Igor various live animals, talk about where they live, eating habits, mating habits, etc. The doctor would offer the animal to Igor to keep for a pet, but Igor needed his master's permission. The answer was always no, and tearfully Igor had to say goodbye to his furry friend.

All the while, Dracula and Igor trying to revive Frankenstein's monster (named Brucie). Many attempts, many failures.

Words don't do this show justice. Check it out on YouTube and let your jaw drop.

 

[mr3urious]

I feel really bad about not watching Phantom Investigators when it first premiered on Kids' WB back in 2002. It's a supernatural show about four ghost-busting kids (all of whom except the leader have a special power) that was created by Stephen Holman, the creator of the Life with Loopy segments on KaBlam!. Like that show, it had a crazy blend of stop-motion, puppets, and live-action. Sucks that it only lasted 13 episodes, probably because it wasn't Pokémon.

 

[ConsummateVs]

As much as I love Pokemon (well, mostly the cards and the games), it sucks that it got some shows cancelled back in the day because of its insane popularity.

 

[LittleJerry92]

If it's one thing I've learned about Pokemon, it's that the anime just doesn't care.

Literally the same story over and over again.

 

[D'Snowth]

As I said before, I was a big Pokemaniac like everyone else when it first came to America almost ten years ago . . . but after a couple of years, I just fell off that bandwagon and never really got back on. In general, the way they kept adding hundreds of new Pokemon got really hard to keep track of after a while (I'm old enough to remember a time where there were only 150 of 'em . . . 151, if you count Mew); not to mention the anime could get confusing the way the characters kept coming and going . . . how many times have they brought back Brock?

 

[LittleJerry92]

Yu-Gi-Oh is better anyway.

*Dances away with top hat and cane for having an unpopular opinion*