Can't Beat the Classics

A nice round of applause to whoever invented syndication. I very rarely watch any show the first time around, and much of the reason for that is that most of the shows I like have been off the air for years...the new episodes, anyway. But Nick at Nite is a haven for all the classics. I no longer get Nickelodeon, but when we had it we watched it quite a bit. During their summer block party, we would sit around at night and watch six straight episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, or Get Smart. During that Summer of the Block Party, the other two nights were occupied by I Love Lucy and Dragnet, neither of which we particularly cared for.

But the lineup is always changing, and there are always the shows that occupy the evening when the block party is not in session. The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, Newhart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Taxi...the list goes on. Just about any corny sitcom from the 50s or 60s you can think of has been on Nick at Nite at some point and, if it's not still on now, probably will be again.

And it's not just the shows that are classic. Even the commercials bring on the nostalgia. And between decades-old commercials, there are unique commentaries about the shows inserted. Dr. Miller, for instance, who points out that we can't see Jeannie's belly button and advises us to look for Darren's shifting hair on Bewitched. And there's the famous Jeannie song...I am sitting on the sofa / there's a tv in the corner / I am watching Major Nelson / he is played by Larry Hagman / and he found this little bottle / and out popped Barbara Eden / but she couldn't show her belly button / all she did was blink / dododoodo dododododo doododododododo dodododododododoo...

Most of the shows on Nick at Nite are not exactly mind-expanding material. They're generally pretty dumb, but they're hilarious. And there's very rarely anything in them that is remotely objectionable. If you're looking for a fun way to pass half an hour, or three hours, when you've got nothing better to do, switch your tv over to Nick at Nite and enjoy the ride!