Which shows stand the test of time?

Whenever a childhood favorite of mine is added to the “Nick at Nite” lineup I wonder two things:

1) Am I really this fucking old?
2) Was this actually funny when I was a kid?

I’ll focus on the latter, because the former just depresses me. While some shows have stood the test of time, others clearly haven’t.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air:



This is a rare instance of a show getting better with age.

Will’s outfits, Carlton’s dancing, Geoffrey’s zingers and Uncle Phil’s Jazz tossing – its all gold. The pop-culture references are obviously out-dated, but I actually understand them now as opposed to when I was a kid.

Best of all, the show doesn’t get too serious. Sure, there are hard-hitting episodes – Will’s father coming back still gets to me – but, on the whole, the show is all about laughing it up while subtly getting their serious points across.

Most importantly, it reminds everyone that us white people are lame.

Home Improvement:



This one is hit or miss.

Tim Allen is good for some laughs each episode - especially during the Tool Time segments when he is ripping on Al or misquoting Wilson’s words of wisdom.

Jill is the typical sitcom wife – a wet blanket, yet somehow always right. The kids don’t add much since I could care less about Brad’s girl troubles, Marc’s problems adjusting to school or whatever the hell disease they gave JTT.

Overall, it’s watchable, but nowhere near Fresh Prince - though the episode where Shooter McGavin comes back as Tim’s old college buddy is hysterical.

Family Matters:



This isn’t pretty.

How many times can we watch Urkel fall through a roof, drive into the house, throw a bowling ball through a window – the list goes on.

The whole thing gets old fast and Carl’s humor every now and then can’t save it.

And for the record, Laura is one shallow bitch.


Full House:



Family Matters may be bad, but this show takes the cake – it is complete garbage.

Yea, the jokes are lame and we’re supposed to believe that Uncle Jesse is a cool dude even though he lives in his brother-in-laws basement – but that’s not my issue.

No, my problem is that every episode needs to teach us a goddamn lesson. Stephanie learns her classmate’s father kicks the shit out of him – lesson: you need to tell people if abuse is happening. D.J. tries to lose weight and faints – lesson: be happy with who you are. Joey plays a hockey game and resists punching out the asshole who deserved it – lesson: it’s OK to be a pussy.

Don’t get me wrong, these are all valid things to show kids – but why the hell was Full House doing the teaching? Apparently, America was too dumb to be parents themselves and needed Bob Saget to show their kids right from wrong. Give me a break.

Any others come to mind?

-Kobel
www.hittingtheflow.com